Leith Community portal, edinburgh, eh16, Leith, Persevere

After his wife of more than two decades filed for divorce in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Irfan Aleem responded in writing in 2003, and not just in court.

Aleem went to the Pakistani Embassy in the District, where he executed a written document that asserted he was divorcing Farah Aleem. He performed “talaq,” exercising a provision of Islamic religious and Pakistani secular law that allows husbands to divorce their wives by declaring “I divorce thee” three times. In Muslim countries, men have used talaq to leave their wives for centuries. for more click here

Burma today said it was not ready to let in foreign aid workers, rejecting international pressure to allow experts into the isolated nation where disease and starvation are stalking cyclone survivors.

One week after the devastating storm killed tens of thousands, Burma’s ruling generals - deeply suspicious of the outside world - said the country needed outside aid for those still alive but would deliver it themselves. for more click here

JERUSALEM — Frustrated by years of on-and-off peace talks with Israel, Palestinians are losing hope for an independent homeland, and some are proposing a radically different cause: a shared state with equal rights for Palestinians and Jews. for more click here

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that current Israeli concessions to the Arabs are not enough. for more click here

srael National News shows you photos of Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel and in the Auschwitz death camp, where IDF top officials are visiting. for more click here

BAGHDAD — Iraq has sent senior Shiite Muslim leaders to Tehran to discuss new evidence that Iranian security services are providing weapons and training to militiamen locked in a deadly showdown with U.S. and Iraqi forces, Iraqi officials said Thursday.

The visit follows some of the most heated U.S. accusations in months of Iranian meddling in Iraq, charges denied by Tehran. for more click here

When Wendy Gonaver was offered a job teaching American studies at Cal State Fullerton this academic year, she was pleased to be headed back to the classroom to talk about one of her favorite themes: protecting constitutional freedoms. for more click here

From January 2009, the European Union will have its own president to chair EU summits and unite the views of 27 member states. for more click here

The US defence secretary, Robert Gates, said yesterday the deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf could serve as a “reminder” to Iran of American resolve to defend its interests in the region. for more click here

Despite a new round of UN sanctions over its nuclear activities, Iran still thinks it is ahead.

The sanctions, passed by the Security Council on Monday, extend the two previous tranches to tighten the economic and trade squeeze on Iran. for more click here